Lenawee Christian (19-4) had its season come to an end. Climax-Scotts (24-1) moved on to the state quarterfinals to face Southfield Christian.

"I'm pleased with our effort tonight," said LCS coach Scott McKelvey. "We tried to eliminate their inside game, but it's difficult to do when they have that much height. We wanted to make them work for every basket and gave a tough effort. I think the boys executed our game plan as best they could."

The Cougars got off to a hot start in the first quarter, hitting four 3-pointers in the quarter. LCS attacked the Climax-Scotts basket at will, quickly building a 13-9 lead. But it became evident early on that stopping the Panthers would be no easy task.

Climax-Scotts held a height advantage over LCS and was able to get inside against the Cougar defense. Climax-Scotts controlled the glass the entire game, outrebounding LCS 37-19 and scoring 16 second-chance points.

"They did get more second chances than we'd have liked," said McKelvey. "We weren't expecting that big of a difference in rebounds. We knew that we'd have to box out from further away to deal with their size, but I'm not sure if we weren't getting low enough or were getting to them too late."

Despite the defensive issues, the Cougar offense flourished. Grant Hohlbein hit a buzzer-beater at the end of the first to put LCS up 18-16 after one.

The second quarter was a struggle for the Cougars.

LCS opened the quarter with three turnovers on four possessions, helping Climax-Scotts go on a 6-0 run. The Panthers focused on shutting down the Cougars' perimeter shooting, forcing them to work the ball inside. LCS had little luck from inside the paint, unable to do much against the superior size of Climax-Scotts.

"We brought in guys of similar size to help us game plan for Climax-Scotts" said McKelvey. "You do what you can against a team like that. I thought we had the right game plan coming into the game."

The Cougars didn't score until midway through the quarter, but their defense tightened up and held the Panthers to just six points. As halftime grew nearer, the Cougar defense began to loosen, allowing Climax-Scotts to start converting easy layups. The Panthers increased their lead to 29-21 at the half.

"I don't really know what happened," said McKelvey. "I'm not sure if we got tentative from them blocking a few shots when we drove inside or what. That second quarter really hurt us."

The second half was much of the same. The Panthers continued to control the glass and were unstoppable inside the paint, where they scored 42 of their 62 points.

LCS got hot near the end of the quarter, bringing down rebounds and hitting shots from all over the floor. Hohlbein put the exclamation point on the quarter, scoring an old-fashioned 3-point play to bring LCS within nine points, 42-33, heading into the fourth.

Climax-Scotts prevented an LCS comeback during the final quarter. Every time LCS cut the deficit within 10, the Panthers immediately went on a run to build it back up.

The Cougars were led by Hohlbein, who finished with 13 points, three rebounds and two assists. Bobby Walter had 10 points, including three 3s, and four rebounds. Brad Harrah finished with eight points and three assists. Alex Nichols added eight points and a steal for the Cougars.

"I'm really proud of this team and how they responded to a new coaching staff and outlook this season," McKelvey said. "They've worked very hard and became real students of the game. They worked well together, and I couldn't ask for more from them."

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